Leave You I'll Not
by Bookdancer
Summary: Joe sacrifices himself for Frank. This is their last conversation and the funeral. Two-Shot.
1. Leave You I'll Not

**Okay, so this is the first part in a two-shot. This part (and the entire fanfic) will be called _Leave You I'll Not_. The second part will be called _Leave Me He Didn't_. I'm publishing this part now, and I'll update with the second part tomorrow if I get some reviews. Basically, when I get at least one review, but not until tomorrow. Got it?**

**I do not own The Hardy Boys.**

Leave You I'll Not

"Frank!" Frank Hardy whipped around to see his brother, Joe. Frank was 18 with brown hair and brown eyes. He also looked and acted nothing like his brother. Joe was seventeen with blond hair and blue eyes. He was also muscular, unlike Frank, who was lean. Frank was patient, calm, and thought before he acted. Joe was impatient, restless, and acted before he thought. The two were complete opposites, but they completed each other. While Frank researched, Joe acted on instinct.

"Hey, Joe." Frank greeted his brother. "What's up?"

"The sky." Joe said impishly, blue eyes twinkling.

Frank rolled his eyes, but grinned.

"JK!" Joe said.

"Huh?" Frank asked, frowning.

Joe stared at him like he expected his brother to grow wings and fly away, singing Breakaway* by Kelly Clarkson. When he didn't get a response, he exploded.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of it!"

"Heard of what?"

"C'mon, Frank! You text, don't you?"

"What's that got to do with this?"

"Everything!" Joe screeched. "Frank, JK is Just Kidding in text talk!"

"Text talk?" Frank asked slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, I made it up, go ahead and kill me." Joe muttered. "Oh yeah! That reminds me. Frank, someone wants to kill you."

"What!"

"Er, apparently Dad accidentally killed this one guy's eldest son, so now the guy wants to kill Dad's eldest son. That's you. And, to be honest, I feel left out."

"You feel... left out?" Frank asked, amazed and shocked. Then again, Joe was Joe. If he could find connections between peanuts and gasoline, Then he could feel left out about not being wanted killed.

"Duh. And I imagine the youngest son of the other guy does, as well. It's not- Look out!" Joe yelled, interrupting himself.

The seventeen year old teen threw himself at his older brother. Frank felt himself get shoved out of the way at the same time a gun fired. He heard a gasp, but stayed where he was, wishing the pain would come. Because with the pain would come the knowledge that Joe hadn't taken the bullet for him. Because with the pain would come the knowledge that it wasn't Joe's blood pooling around his feet. Because with the pain would come the knowledge that Joe wasn't dying. Because with the pain would come the knowledge that Joe wasn't dying for him.

But, when the pain didn't come, he forced himself onto his feet. There, laying on the ground, blood pooling around his body, was Joe. The bullet had lodged itself in his chest, and Frank knew that nobody could save Joe.

He stumbled forward, falling to his knees next to his brother.

"Joe." He choked out.

Frank could dimly hear people yelling for an ambulance, but knew it'd be too late. He stared as policemen walked past, a man, assassin, in handcuffs. It didn't matter.

He slowly became aware of Joe calling his name, and turned back to his brother.

"Oh, Joe!" He gasped out.

"Sure don't feel left out anymore." Joe groaned, grinning weakly.

"You just had to save me, didn't you?" Frank cried. "You and your stupid stupidness!"

"I prefer to call it loyalty, selflessness, or a bunch of other words."

"How can you even joke at a time like this!"

"At a time like what?" Joe asked, a blank look on his face.

"Joe!" Frank cried.

"You ask me how, Frank." Joe said softly. "But the truth is, I will never leave you."

"What?" Frank asked, confused. Of course Joe was leaving him! He was _dying_ for Pete's sake!

"And people call _me_ the stupid one." Joe muttered exasperatedly. "Frank, I may be leaving you in body, but I'll never leave your heart."

Frank sniffed. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I'll always be in your heart, however cliche and overused that phrase is." Joe smiled at his brother, and Frank could help but crack a smile back. His brother just had that type of effect on people.

"You'll never leave?" Frank asked.

"Never." Joe promised.

***Great song, by the way!**

**And if you guys think they're OOC, sorry, I just thought that Joe would be the kind of person who would joke when he was dying. And Frank's younger brother is dying. I think that's explanatory enough.**

**Please review!**


	2. Leave Me He Didn't

**Okay, so here's the second part of this two-shot. Thanks to Albany for reviewing and TheLazyOtakuWithTooMuchTime for favoring this.**

**I do not own The Hardy Boys.**

Leave Me He Didn't

Frank looked up at his father's call. It was two weeks after Joe had died, and they were finally having his funeral. He was to be placed next to Iola Morton, the girl he had loved. Vanessa Bender hadn't said anything about it, knowing Joe had never loved her as much as he had Iola. Nancy Drew, Bess Martin, and Georgia (George) Fayne were driving over from River Heights. Biff Hooper, Tony Prito, Phil Cohen, and Callie Shaw were also going to the funeral.

"Frank!" Fenton called again. "It's time to go!"

"Coming!" Frank yelled, turning away from his reflection in the mirror.

Of everybody, Frank had shed the least tears. Nobody except Frank knew why. Because nobody but Frank knew Joe had never really left them.

However, hours later, he couldn't ignore the tears streaming down his cheeks. He was crying, but he didn't regret it. Crying showed how much he loved Joe. Crying showed how much he had cared for Joe. Crying showed how much he wished it was him in that casket.

"I'm sorry Joe left you, Frank." Nancy told him softly. "I know how hard-"

"No, Nancy, you don't." Frank interrupted Nancy. "I know your mother died when you were three, but you never really knew her. So no, you _don't_ know how hard this is for me." Frank turned away only to turn back, saying, "Oh yeah, and Joe _didn't_ leave me."

Frank left Nancy standing there, shocked, as she turned and asked Bess and George, "Did I miss something?"

"I'm sorry, Frank." Callie breathed. "I couldn't believe Chief Collig when he said Joe had left us. I-"

"He didn't leave us." Frank said.

And so it went. People would come up to Frank, saying how sorry they were that Joe had left them, and then Frank would determinedly tell them through his tears that Joe never left. Nobody believed him. Nobody, that is, but Biff Hooper.

The teen approached Frank with tears running down his own cheeks, eyes bloodshot, pale and shaking with grief.

"Don't turn me away, Frank." He croaked, voice dry with disuse. "I know Joe never left you. Hell, he never left any of us. The others just don't see that. But I understand."

"How?" Was all Frank said.

"I lost my grandmother two years ago. It was like this with her."

Frank was silent for several minutes, just staring at the younger boy. Then, "Thank you. For everything. But especially for knowing he didn't leave me. Us."

**And that's it! Sorry if you were expecting something else, but... Also, I've always liked Biff more thank Frank and the others (with the exception of Joe) and I just couldn't let the opportunity go.**

**Please review!**


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